


Old Scars, Broken Hearts, and A Lot of Time to Mend Them

by thatonedudewiththename



Series: Drabbles of the Septic, Saucy Kind [3]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, So much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 10:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4622310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatonedudewiththename/pseuds/thatonedudewiththename
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherever Vinny goes, he leaves a trail of tears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Scars, Broken Hearts, and A Lot of Time to Mend Them

**Author's Note:**

> im dad inside

Vinny had stopped strumming his guitar and had stopped singing, just holding his acoustic guitar with his head lowered. Jack extended a hand in question. "Vinny? Are ye alright?"  
Vinny stood up faster than Jack could blink, out of the reach of his hand that was still out to console him. "I-I can't do this, Jack." Vinny's tone was trembling.  
"What... what d'ya mean?" Jack asked. He felt cold.  
Vinny still wouldn't look at him. "I'm sorry."  
Before Jack could do anything, Vinny ran out of his dorm, leaving behind only the scent of cigarettes and body wash. "Vinny!" Jack yelled, bolting off of his bed and out into the hallway, sprinting down to the exit of the dormitories, dropping his weight onto the door so it would fling open. "Vinny!!" He shouted, but the chill air of the night carried no response. He ran, in his pajama pants, Vinny's T-shirt, and no socks or shoes, to the senior dormitories and inside, walking until he came to Vinny's door. He knocked. A moment later, the door opened, revealing a long-haired brunet in a black shirt that had a skull on it. "Hey, Jack." He greeted with a Scandinavian accent.  
"Hey, Joel, is Vinny here?" Jack questioned.  
Joel frowned. "Wasn't he with you?"  
"Yeah, but t'en he started actin' weird and ran off."  
Joel nodded knowingly. "Yeah, he does that. Just give him some space, he'll be around by tomorrow."  
Turning up his mouth, Sean hmmed. "If you say so," He ran a hand through his hair. "T'ankya, Joel."  
"Hey, no problem, man."  
Jack walked back to his dorm, holding the bottom of his shirt, an ominous feeling in the bottom of his gut.

By eight the next day, Jack couldn't move. He had the worst headache caused by his overwhelming worry; his phone was clutched in both hands, dark bags under his eyes from lack of sleep– Joel should have called by now. _Vinny_ should have called by now. Jack felt his insides turn to mush and his brain fry in his skull. "He's fine, Jack, Vinny is okay, he just needs some space. He'll call," His lips shivered. "He'll call."

He didn't.

+

Jack couldn't finish out the school year and had to take a mental health leave for the semester. His roommate and friend Mark called him every day to make sure he was okay; Joel called fairly regularly, mostly to update him on the status of Vinny. "Still hasn't called," He'd say, "I'm trying not to worry, but fuck man, I'm terrified."  
Jack wasn't terrified. If anything, he was just... numb. It was strange, in his mind anyway, how worked up over Vinny's absence he was; but then, one couldn't blame him, since Vinny was his boyfriend and Sean was desperately in love with him. Head over heels, in a manner of speaking. He'd known that Vinny wasn't sound mentally, like he was depressed and all, but...  
Jack curled up in a ball on the carpeted floor and covered his face, tears welling in his eyes; he missed Vinny so much, he missed him, he wanted him here, he wanted to hold his hand and run his fingers through his hair and feel his heartbeat, to stare into his washed-out green eyes as he sang and told him that everything was alright in that beautifully plain voice of his.  
Jack pulled the collar of Vinny's shirt up over his nose and breathed deeply, taking in the scent of the man he loved so much. It was almost enough.

Almost.

 

He finished school, got a degree in sound engineering, but there was still a gaping void inside of him that wouldn't leave him alone, even three years later.  
Joel still called him, every once in a while, and they would go out for coffee or brunch and catch up. Every time they did, the subject of Vinny would be danced around until they were about to depart, and every time it was the same: Jack would ask, "Have ye heard from Vinny, by any chance?" and Joel would answer that no, he hadn't, but if he does he'll let him know. Then they'd wave goodbye to each other, Joel getting in his car and Jack in his cab, and go their separate ways.

Jack tried to date, he really did; OKCupid, eHarmony, even Tinder and Craigslist personals. He went on dates, but ended up being distant without meaning to; one of his dates called him a douche and left him to pay the bill for their meal and cab ride. Jack didn't blame them.  
He gave up, eventually, instead focusing his energy on getting a job that paid well enough for him to move out of Mark's place, not that he needed to; it was more out of respect and feeling like a bother considering that Mark's girlfriend of three years lived with him. Plus, he thought maybe he was being a downer. Mark always denied those things, of course, whenever Jack brought them up. Jack appreciated the sentiment, but he knew. 

+

Years passed and Jack was in New York, setting up the sound board for a popular and very expensive venue, meaning it paid incredibly well and Jack couldn't go hungry that week. As he was finishing up the wiring, he heard something– a voice, an old, familiar voice that stopped time as soon as he registered what it was. He stood up and turned, searched, his eyes immediately finding the pair that had haunted him since freshman year of college. "Vinny?" He choked out.  
Sure enough, there Vinny stood, at the entrance to the backstage, guitar case in one hand, the other in the pocket of his jacket. God, he hadn't changed at all, just as beautiful, except that he now had a beard and crow's feet around his eyes– light, but there. When he saw him, he paled. "Jack?" He was shaking.  
Jack ran up to him and hit him, then hit him again, and again, finally grabbing him by the lapels of his jacket with his brows furrowed but eyes full of tears. "HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!! How _FUCKING _DARE YOU?! After all these years!! You just– _leave___ ME? I CRIED FOR YEARS!! I HAD NIGHTMARES! YOU COULD'VE AT LEAST CALLED! I LOVED YOU!"  
Vinny wouldn't look at him head-on. "I'm sorry. I... I love you, too."  
"NO! YOU–" Jack cut himself off to bite his bottom lip to try and stop his crying, but it wasn't working. "Why did you leave me, Vinny?" He whimpered.  
"I was... I was scared. I was in a bad place and I didn't want you getting dragged down with me. I loved you so much, I didn't know what to do." Vinny's posture as he spoke was defeated. "Im sorry, Sean."  
Jack cupped Vinny's face with his hands and stared at him; his eyes were still so beautiful after all these years. "I love ye, Vinny. Please don't ever leave me again."  
Vinny pressed his forehead to Jack's before kissing him. It was still electric, still heart-pounding, and fuck, it immediately filled that emptiness inside of Jack and made him feel whole again. Vinny's beard prickled his face, the silky brown greying somewhat. Jack was completely grey now, at the ripe age of thirty.  
When they pulled back, Jack was dizzy. Vinny was smiling and seemingly breathless, stroking a thumb over the skin of Jack's cheek. "Dad?" There was a voice at Vinny's feet.  
Looking down, Jack saw a kid, no older than seven, clutching at Vinny's jacket. He was practically a carbon copy of Vinny himself. Jack turned to Vinny, eyes wide and lips parted. "Vinny..?"  
Vinny smoothed the kid's brown hair and smiled. "It's okay, Sean. Go play somewhere." He told him.  
"Okee." The kid, Sean, ran off, back out of the door that led from backstage.  
When he'd gone, Vinny looked to Jack. "My kid," He said needlessly.  
"Where'd he... come from?" Jack asked.  
"Well, when two people love each other very much–"  
"Not the time, Vinny!"  
"Sorry." Vinny sighed inaudibly. "A couple years after I left I hooked up with this chick at a bar. Didn't hear from her until nine months later when she showed up at this venue I was playing at and dumped a baby she said was mine in my arms. I tried looking her up, but she's a ghost."  
"Sounds familiar." Jack grumbled.  
Vinny chuckled airily, more out of nervousness than humour. "Anyway, I kept the kid."  
"You named him Sean." Jack stated, a smile growing on his face.  
"Yeah," Vinny took out a well-worn pack of gum and popped a stick into his mouth, beginning to chew. Jack eyed the action quizzically, warranting Vinny to elaborate. "I quit smoking a few years ago. For the kid, you know?"  
Jack kissed him again, wrapping his arms around him and holding him as tight as he could. "I'm never letting you go again, you focker." He whispered between kisses.  
Vinny huffed a laugh. He pulled back and cupped Jack's face with a small smile. "You're just as pretty as I remember," He told him quietly.  
They kissed again, and again, and still again, Jack clutching at whatever part of Vinny he could grab, just holding each other as tightly and close as they could. When they pulled back for air momentarily, Vinny gasped, "I've missed you so much."  
"I missed you too." Jack replied.  
"I'll never hurt you again, I promise." 

After all, they had a lot to make up for, and all the time in the world to do it.

End

**Author's Note:**

> when will i be stopped


End file.
